I do not believe that the hardcore militant rightwing conservatives, who invoke "patriotism" more than anyone else, are the people whom we should admire as the patriots of our country, or that we should follow their views, even half way, in deciding where to take our country for the 21st century. Yes, we must reach out for all of our citizens to form a greater common ground for "all", if we are to be able to accomplish much. But we must reach out to all in the true sense of reaching out for truth, understanding and willingness for joint effort, which is never accomplished by merely splitting the difference between the current views of the conservative camps and the liberal/progressive camps, if the different views of these camps have resulted from much confusion, misunderstanding and even intentional deceptions fostered by systematic lies and false propaganda propagated by a few who are in control of our economic system and the media and who do not hesitate to use the media primarily for their own selfish personal gains, not for the best interests of the country, although they always express their intention couched in those terms. Instead, the true coalition of the majority and the creation of the common ground will be possible only if the progressives actively communicate and inform each other and an ever growing body of our general population of the true stories about the war, about our economy and our future, more forcefully than ever, rather than just by being more willing and tolerant to accommodate and accept the opposing, often misguided, views of the so-called conservatives. It is thus imperative, too, that the progressives insist that Barack Obama try to reach out for the independents and the moderate Republicans by standing up for the right cause more forcefully than ever, rather than by caving in to their demands when we all know that their demands are unreasonable and ultimately harmful to the nation.
Let us hope that the country will wake up and enough of our citizens will work together, so that our children will hear the best possible story, not the one cited above, from future historians regarding what happened to the United States in early 21st century: Because of the incredible strengths, persistence and efforts of the intellectuals and progressives who became energized under the new stewardship of President Barack Obama, and the inherent soundness and health of the underlying U.S. economy, the United States was able to reverse and recover from the profound damages caused by the reckless policies of the previous Bush/Cheney administration, and succeeded in getting back on its track for continued prosperity and the leadership role in the world in solving the monumental problems in the global environmental issues, finding substitute energy sources that pretty much replaced the fossil fuels, and stabilizing and promoting industrial rejuvenation, stability and peace around the world for the 21st century, by radically changing its course to peace initiatives and diplomacy everywhere, instead of the failed militaristic approach of the previous administrations that had antagonized and divided the world and had only fueled destructively wasteful competitions for defense buildup among major nations.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).